When The Bachelor star Sean Lowe revealed his decision to stay celibate until marriage, something that was taken as intimate and personal decision quickly became a punchline.

And now, the newlywed is getting candid and opening up about his decision—and the impact—to I Am Second, a website that features stories of hope from more than 100 athletes, actors, models, musicians, politicians and more.

Sean explains in his short film that he hasn’t always stayed true to that vow, and began dating and sleeping with girls after moving back to Dallas after he graduated from college.

“I would feel extremely guilty afterwards, but after that guilt faded, I’d just start talking to some other girl and go down the same path of destruction,” he said.

As he got older, he realized something had to change—so he decided to man up and become more committed to his faith.

Unfortunately, things got difficult as he popularity increased and he grew into fame—and so much negative attention was focused on his decision to refrain from sex with his now-wife, Catherine Giudici.

“Somewhere along the line, probably because people did know I was a Christian, someone thought to ask, ‘how’s the sex or are you guys waiting for marriage?’” he explained. “I answered it honestly… From that moment forward, it was just a firestorm…. Whether it was Late Night With Jimmy Kimmel, Entertainment Tonight—you name it, it was always brought up. They were just going to view me as a weirdo.”

To put into perspective, right before Sean and Catherine tied the knot, Jimmy Kimmel had Sean complete a lie detector test and asked Sean if he was honest about his celibacy.

For the record—he passed the test.

Despite the exploitation he received at the hands of the press, the reality star insists it’s all worth it.

“I was labeled as an outsider, but as annoying as it was, it’s also been a great thing for me because that’s now a part of my testimony,” Sean said. “I don’t know if anyone’s found Jesus through talking about not having sex, but I think now it’s certainly more evident than ever that I love Jesus and I’m different because I love Jesus.”